The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday sentenced former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him in the 2013 sexual assault case involving a former junior colleague. The sentence was pronounced by a division bench comprising Justice Dr Neela Gokhale and Justice Amit Jamsandekar, which earlier in the day overturned Tejpal's acquittal by a Goa trial court. The High Court granted Tejpal two weeks to surrender before beginning his prison term.
The bench convicted Tejpal under Sections 376(2)(f) and 376(2)(k) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), relating to rape. In addition to the 10-year sentence for the rape convictions, the court also sentenced him to one year of imprisonment under Section 354A of the IPC for sexual harassment and two years under Section 354B for assault with intent to disrobe a woman. The court directed that all the sentences would run concurrently.
The verdict came after the High Court allowed the Goa government's appeal against the May 2021 judgment of a sessions court in Mapusa, which had acquitted Tejpal by giving him the benefit of doubt. The trial court had held that the prosecution failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt, a decision that drew widespread criticism and prompted the state government to challenge the acquittal before the High Court.
During the hearing on the appeal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Goa government, argued that the trial court had committed serious errors in evaluating the evidence and urged the High Court to impose the maximum punishment prescribed under law. The prosecution contended that the trial court relied on stereotypes about how a survivor of sexual assault should behave and attached undue importance to minor inconsistencies in the complainant's testimony instead of examining the evidence in its entirety. It also referred to emails allegedly sent by Tejpal to the complainant after the incident, arguing that they supported the prosecution's case.
Senior advocate Abad Ponda, appearing for Tejpal, denied the allegations and maintained that the prosecution had misread the evidence. The defence argued that the acquittal by the trial court was justified and that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Following the conviction, Tejpal announced that he would challenge the High Court's verdict before the Supreme Court. Maintaining his innocence, he expressed confidence that the evidence would ultimately vindicate him.
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